
Origen is frequently hailed as the most important Christian writer of his period (c.185-c.255 AD), and the first systematic theologian. Origen and Prophecy: Fate, Authority, Allegory, and the Structure of Scripture examines whether there was a system to Origen's thinking about prophecy. How were all of these quite different topics - future-telling, moral leadership, mystical revelation - contained in the single word 'prophecy'? Origen and Prophecy presents a new account of Origen's concept of prophecy which takes its cue from the structure of Origen's thinking about scripture. He claims that scripture can be read in three different senses: the straightforward, or 'somatic' (bodily) sense; the moral, or 'psychic' (soul-ish) sense; and the mystical, or 'pneumatic' (spiritual) sense. This threefold structure, says Origen, underpins all of scripture and is intimately linked through Christ with the structure of the Holy Trinity. This book illustrates how Origen thought about prophecy using the same threefold structure, with somatic (future-telling), psychic (moral), and pneumatic (mystical revelatory) senses. The chapters weave through several centuries of Greek pagan, Jewish, and Christian thinking about prophecy, divination, time, human nature, autonomy and freedom, allegory and metaphor, and the role of the divine in the order and structure of the cosmos.
This book investigates whether a coherent, systematic framework exists within the writings of Origen regarding the multifaceted concept of prophecy. Claire Hall, a scholar of early Christian thought, utilizes a rigorous analysis of Origen's tripartite hermeneutic—somatic, psychic, and pneumatic—to argue that his understanding of prophecy mirrors his broader structural approach to scripture. By mapping these three senses onto the functions of future-telling, moral leadership, and mystical revelation, the author demonstrates how Origen integrated disparate theological and philosophical traditions into a unified cosmological vision.
What You Will Find
Scope Limits
Scholars recognize this monograph as a significant contribution to the study of Origen's systematic theology and his engagement with ancient philosophical traditions. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for specialists in patristics and the history of Christian thought.
Page Count:
237
Publication Date:
2021-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0192661930
ISBN-13:
9780192661937
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!